All I Want for Christmas
by hersummerdreams
Summary: A week at a resort sounded like fun, but this will be a Christmas Leon, Cloud, Sora, Roxas, Riku and Axel will never forget… set in Australia. DISCONTINUED.
1. The First Day

_Disclaimer: Not my characters. My plot, my world, not my characters. XD_

**Title:** All I Want for Christmas  
**Chapter:** The First Day  
**Pairings:** Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Riku/Sora…  
**Summary:** A week at a resort sounded like fun, but this will be a Christmas Leon, Cloud, Sora, Roxas, Riku and Axel will never forget… set in Australia. AU, yaoi.  
**Rating:** Not kiddy safe…

This fanfiction is a co-write between me and my friend (who doesn't actually have an account on here… o.O;;;) Kalely. Mostly everything is based on true events… well, everything except the smutty stuff, which was left to our imaginations… 8D

It features boy on boy lovin' so if you're not into that stuff, DON'T READ IT, har har...

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**All I Want for Christmas**

_Chapter One: The First Day_

Cloud could honestly admit to himself that against all the odds, he was, in fact, scared.

He was not often scared – scared was a word excluded from his vocabulary. It was not an adjective, not a verb, not even a lowly proverb. In Cloud's own exclusive language, you could not run-scared. Neither could you jog nor walk scared if you so desired. In fact, the only acceptable use of the word 'scared' was used when describing your friends as they laid eyes for the first time on your big, pointy sword…

Nope, scared was not a word ever associated with the blond in any way, shape or form.

Except when Leon looked like _that._

Nobody else in the car noticed how tight Leon's grip on the steering wheel was, neither his increased breathing rate nor the random twitches of his eye. Cloud, however, was an expert Leon-reader, as he should be after three years of dating. This was why he was more than a little worried, because all the signs read the same.

Leon was going to implode.

This was not going to be pretty.

He was drawn away from the vein throbbing in Leon's forehead by the random bursts of song coming from the backseat.

"Toot toot chuga chuga big red car!"

Cloud couldn't decide which was worse: the volume of Sora's voice or the obvious lack of singing talent.

"We're gonna ride the WHOLE DAY LONG!"

The car sped up a little, making the blond quickly turn off the radio. The silence that followed was absolutely golden – until

"PUT IT BACK CLOUD! LEON, MAKE CLOUD PUT IT BACK ON! LEEEOOOON!"

"Shut it Sora."

Roxas, from his seat beside the brunet, huffed and glared moody daggers into the back of Cloud's headrest. He had honestly never hated anyone with such a passionate, burning hatred. Curse his stupid brother for bringing him along on this stupid trip… he could've at least been warned of what was coming. Of course Cloud had neglected to tell him, because he'd never have wanted to come if he'd known he'd be sitting beside the world's most annoying duo.

He thought Sora was bad enough, but he was nothing compared to-

"AXEL! Could you please reach over and put it back on?" Sora asked, fluttering his eyelids at the red head.

"Depends." A voice purred from his other side, over Sora's whining. Unlike Roxas, who had been fuming about being stuck in the middle of the two, Axel was quite happy with his current position. In fact, he delighted in spreading himself as far across the seat as he could, his hand lingering on the top of the seat behind the angry blond, itching to play with his hair.

"On what?" Roxas snapped, annoyed with the expectant silence.

"On what you, Sora, can tell me about the gorgeous blond sitting beside you." The red head licked his lips and smiled in a bemused fashion. "Any deep, dark secrets I should know about Roxy? Any… secret desires?" Axel leaned closer, forcing Roxas to shift closer to Sora.

"You know you're curious Rox…" he lowered his voice to a breathy whisper, smirking all the while at the obvious discomfort he was causing, "and I can teach you everything…"

Finally, the blond's resolve broke. Roxas shoved Axel backwards, causing the red head's flaming spikes to collide with the window – followed closely by a dull 'thud' as his skull connected seconds after.

"FOR THE LAST TIME AXEL, I'M NOT GAY!" Roxas yelled, struggling to get as far away as the seatbelt would allow, "AND EVEN IF I WAS GAY, I STILL WOULDN'T DATE YOU! What part about 'I hate you' don't you understand?!"

Axel forced the lazy smirk back onto his face, rubbing his head, not allowing the hurt to show in his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, so you keep saying." He muttered, but wasn't deterred, and soon returned to his previous position. Cloud was the only one to notice as the speedometer edged over 110…

"Uh guys?" He muttered, watching Leon warily… but Sora's wail prevented his words from being heard.

"Leeeeoooon, put the Wiggles back on!"

Roxas shook his head furiously, "Sora, the Wiggles are for five year olds and people in denial about getting above that. People like you Sora!"

"I'm not in denial!" Sora shot back.

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are to- I AM NOT HAVING THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU SORA, YOU ARE IN DENIAL AND THAT'S THAT!" Roxas finished, his infamous temper boiling murderously, eyes flashing as he stared down his almost step-brother. Usually Roxas and Sora were so close, they got along famously. Roxas appreciated Sora's ability to just enjoy life and Sora appreciated Roxas' ability to bring him back down to Earth.

It was rare for Roxas to become this easily angry with Sora, but he was so upset with Axel and Cloud that he couldn't help himself. The blond glanced over at his unusually silent best friend, ready to apologise, when another voice cut in.

"Can _I_ have this conversation with you?" The red head purred.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Roxas struggled to move away from Axel, but couldn't quite maneuver himself with Sora in the way.

"OW! Roxas! That hurts…"

"SHUT IT SORA!"

"Okay so no conversation… would you prefer I whisper sweet nothings into your ear?"

"YOU PERVERT!" Roxas yelled.

"ROXAAAAAS!" Sora whined, squirming.

"All of you, SHUT UP!" Cloud tried, desperate to calm them all down before-

The harsh squealing of brakes cut through the air.

The car skidded to a halt. The resulting jolt knocked Roxas into Axel's lap, but he barely noticed. Sora shrunk down as low as he could go into his seat – and Axel merely gulped. All they could focus on was the back of the brunet's head as Leon closed his eyes and counted slowly to ten. Each of them waited, their hearts pounding with the adrenaline from the sudden braking, and Cloud wondered whether the brunet would realize that they were stopped in the middle of a highway.

It wasn't a particularly busy highway, but still… cautiously, while his boyfriend was still counting, he flicked the hazard lights on. Well, he could still be careful…

Leon seemed to take a deep, final breath, and turned slowly to look at the three teenagers, fixing them with an ice cold gaze.

"Two hours." He grated, eyes sweeping from Axel, to Roxas, to Sora, who pretended he was invisible. "Two fucking hours I have had to put up with the three of you. Two hours of the Wiggles, two hours of complaining and arguments, two of the worst hours of my life."

Somehow, the hard tone was worse than if Leon had shouted.

"If I have to put up with this for the **next** two hours, I will personally see to your punishment – and it will be worse than anything you could imagine. I will put you through hell and when you come out, you will tremble at my feet and beg for my forgiveness… and then..."

A lengthy pause. Breathless silence.

"I'll do it again."

Leon schooled his expression, turned back around, and set the car into motion again, turning off the hazard lights with a casual flick of his finger. Cloud let the air escape his lungs and leant back into his seat. He stretched his arm across the gap between them and slipped his hand in between the back of Leon's head and his headrest, his fingers idly twisting and fiddling with his hair.

The effect of the simple action caused the tension to ease several degrees as Leon sighed heavily.

And Axel, Roxas and Sora found themselves able to breathe again.

"What was that all about?" Axel whispered to Roxas, ignoring the glare Cloud threw over his shoulder. Roxas, who had scrambled back into his seat, frowned darkly.

"Leon doesn't usually get mad. Cloud's the one who yells at us and then Leon calms him down before we get castrated. I guess we just pushed him over the limit."

Sora looked thoughtful, but whatever he was thinking, he kept it to himself.

Then Roxas looked out the window.

"Hey! A gas station! Ya reckon we could stop there Cloud?"

Cloud hesitated. Leon nodded lightly and obediently changed lanes, never taking his eyes off the road. Roxas breathed a sigh of relief as four sets of eyes turned to the sanctuary of the simple building. The fifth pair never left his ass.

Less than a minute later (though it seemed much longer than that), they were pulling in and everyone piled out of the car like it was on fire. Cloud immediately headed for the station itself to get some take away, Roxas following to put in his order. Leon pumped fuel into the car while Axel opened the boot and rummaged in his bag for his smokes.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Sora, meanwhile, only had one thought on his mind.

Toilet.

He crossed the small car park and found the block with little difficulty, pushed hesitantly on the door. It swung open slowly and Sora found the noise strangely befitting as he stepped inside. The first thing that hit him was the smell – the stench of sewage and rotting… something, made him wrinkle his nose. The cubicles themselves were disgusting. A mystery puddle of ... something on the floor, toilet paper, used and not used, was strewn all over the place.

A couple of the toilets hadn't been flushed in weeks.

Sora wriggled from side to side in his desperation, a quick glance at the urinal telling him that it was probably permanently out of order. It could've been due to the fact that there was nothing to flush it with – or the fact that the urinal itself was hanging half off the wall… so it had to be a cubicle…

The brunet bit his lip and sprinted into a random one, shutting and locking the door behind him.

A minute later and he flushed, his hand already on the lock so that he could get out of this disgusting place.

But it wouldn't turn.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," Sora moaned, struggling with the thing, but to no avail. Finally, he butted the door with his shoulder, but the door was like rock and the only thing it did was make his shoulder ache. The lock didn't budge.

"Shit." Sora swore, for the first time in months. His only other option was to crawl out from underneath the door, but there was used toilet paper in his way. On his right was another puddle, and he didn't even want to risk the left.

So he was stuck.

Oh well, he'd just wait until someone got him. They would realize he wasn't there and go looking. Yeah, then they'd let him out and he'd continue on his merry way.

They wouldn't forget him.

Right?

…. Right?

-0-0-0-0-

_Meanwhile…_

Leon was already sitting impatiently in the car by the time Roxas and Cloud got back.

"Check in is at two." The brunet reminded them. Cloud shrugged lightly, throwing Axel and Sora's share of the food onto the back seat.

"We'll get there in time." He assured his boyfriend, but he knew this wasn't true, and sighed inwardly. Nothing like this ever seemed to go right. They couldn't take a holiday without SOMETHING happening. Once, when they'd been fishing, Sora had accidentally speared his hand with his hook and had to be taken to hospital to get it surgically removed.

Another time Leon had been attacked by jellyfish and had had at least three wrapped around his thigh, the stinging, almost burning pain turning his entire leg red, swollen and sore. He'd had to peel each tentacle off one by one and untangle the jellyfish before he could remove them – and that process alone had taken over half an hour.

Cloud could go on and on about their disastrous holidays – he'd just wanted this one to be different – but it looked like he was never going to get his wish.

Not with Axel and Roxas stuck together, anyway.

Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose in a typically Leon gesture, forcing the brunet himself to draw his gaze away from the thin plume of smoke rising from Axel's lit cigarette and settle on his blond boyfriend.

"What?" He asked; the concern obvious in his voice.

Cloud drew his hand away. "I don't know if I want to go on this holiday anymore." He said steadily, catching Leon's imploring gaze.

A strange contest of wills seemed to break out between them, until Cloud finally looked away and stared unseeingly out the window.

Leon frowned and leaned over the handbrake, using his hand to turn his boyfriend's head and bring into sight the amazing blue eyes he couldn't help but fall madly and deeply in love with.

"No." He whispered seriously, "you deserve a break."

His lips came into contact with Clouds' and the blond sighed lightly into the kiss. He would never, ever, get sick of those lips. Leon's eyes slipped shut as he ran his tongue across Cloud's lip, the blond biting back a moan. His hand slipped around the back of his head and pulled him desperately closer, slipping his tongue into the parted lips.

Cloud broke the kiss for a moment, long enough to climb over onto Leon's lap, straddling the brunet.

He leaned forward and captured Leon's lips in another passionate kiss, his hands sliding underneath the brunet's shirt and running his finger lightly along his spine. One of Leon's hands pulled Cloud closer, the other slipping down to the front of his pants and expertly undoing the button.

Cloud moaned into the kiss, grinding down, making them both gasp with the electricity that it caused. Leon's hand dipped down into Cloud's boxers, searching for, finding and tightening around-

"Ahem."

They jumped. Blushing lightly, both turned and looked out the window, to see the back of Roxas' head as he steadily faced the other direction.

"I'm counting to ten," he said, reminding Cloud eerily of Leon, "and when I get there, my brother will have his pants done up, and be sitting in his seat. He will NOT be being publicly molested by his boyfriend, because, if he hasn't noticed already, there are quite a few people watching, including me, and we're quite emotionally scarred enough as it is thank-you-very-much."

Roxas took a deep breath.

"One… two…. three…"

Cloud withdrew Leon's hand from his pants and zipped them up, trying to ignore the brunet's angry and disappointed expression.

"We'll continue this later." Cloud whispered into Leon's ear, licking his earlobe and nibbling at it lightly. The brunet finally nodded as Roxas neared the end of his countdown.

"Seven… eight… nine…"

Cloud withdrew hastily into the passenger seat.

"Ten."

Roxas stalked into the back seat and almost sat on Axel's share of the food. Scowling, he took his own bag of chips from the seat… then he really did sit on Axel's share, and wiggled a bit too, for good measure.

He just hoped this wouldn't somehow get the red head off…

Cloud leaned out the window, scowling at his smoking cousin, slightly frustrated at the speed their company seemed to be traveling. He couldn't wait to get to the resort.

The frustration eased slightly, as he realized that he really did want to go, if only spend some alone time with Leon. They could get some things sorted out, anyway.

Not that there was anything wrong with their relationship, per say… it was just…

They had never acted much like a couple, never told each other how much they loved the other and never been all over each other in public (on purpose anyway. When lust took over, well, anything could happen…).

They did love each other. At least, Cloud loved Leon… more than he would ever know, and they'd been dating for three years so it was obvious that the brunet felt the same way. He just seemed to take it as a mutual understanding though – it was something that he'd never said out loud. It was just unspoken…

But Cloud had said it and he hadn't heard it back. That was where their troubles had REALLY started – and now…

"HURRY UP AXEL!" Roxas hollered out the window, towards the vibrant red spikes. The smoke coming up looked like his hair was on fire, not the stick dangling from between his lips.

"I'm _coming._" Axel said.

Then he paused.

Thought about it.

And smirked evilly.

Roxas scowled and returned to his meal.

The red head sighed and threw the cigarette down on the ground, preparing to stomp it out… when he realized that it hadn't landed on the ground. It had landed in a puddle, a small flame bursting to life. Axel stared, wide eyed, panicking, down at the fire. Mentally connected that puddle to the next puddle.

To the next, slightly bigger puddle.

To the largest puddle of them all…

Right next to the petrol pump.

"Oh SHIT!" He yelped, sprinting over to the car and wrenching open the car door.

"DRIVE!" Axel ordered as he dived in, slamming the door frantically behind him, glancing back at the slowly spreading flames… but the car didn't move. Cloud, Roxas and Leon all stared at him like he had suddenly grown an extra head – which he couldn't be sure he hadn't.

Then Leon happened to see the flickering flames out of the corner of his eye and swore.

"Shit."

He floored it and the car burst to life, roaring out of the gas station. He swerved onto the road in front of a Holden, the owner of which honked loudly at him. But Leon ignored it and kept up the speed until he'd rejoined the highway, and even then didn't slow down much.

Neither Roxas, Axel or Cloud, pale and slowly disengaging themselves to the various things they grabbed on to, realized they were missing something.

Or someone...

-0-0-0-0-0-

"_I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need…"_

A slender hand crashed down on the radio, but there was nothing he could do to change the song. The car was a bomb, pre-ruined by his cousin, and nothing worked. The tape player had a tape permanently stuck in it and the radio had so much soft drink spilled on it that it had ceased to function… except for one station.

"_I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree…"_

The one station that played Christmas carols all year long.

It was just Riku's luck.

He switched off the radio angrily, swearing under his breath that if he had to listen to 'Jingle Bells' one more time, he'd snap the antenna off the front and ram it somewhere his cousin would regret. Although, knowing Axel…

Riku sighed lightly and followed the highway around a sweeping corner, seeing a gas station up ahead that he could take a break. He lived even further away from the place than Axel and reasoned that it had taken him three hours to get to this point, where as it had probably taken his cousin a maximum of two. He felt instantly sorry for the people stuck with his cousin for that long.

Just as he reached the entrance of the station, a black car rocketed out of the driveway. Riku swerved violently, swearing as the idiot accelerated onto the highway. "ASSHOLE!" He called out his window, beeping his horn, but the car was long gone.

He swept his silver hair behind one ear and pulled into a carpark. That was one more stupid driver the world didn't need…

Riku grimaced as he got out and moved his aching legs. The movement also seemed to remind him he had an incredible urge to pee, and without further adue, he started towards the toilets.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sora's voice was hoarse from yelling, the boy himself sitting on the toilet seat, legs drawn up to his chest and clutching his knees.

But he wouldn't cry… he refused to cry. Crying would mean that he'd be admitting to himself that yes, he had been forgotten and no, nobody was coming for him… and he just couldn't loose hope like that. It wasn't Sora. So, with complete faith in his friends and his brother, Sora continued to wait.

And heard the sound he'd been longing to hear.

"LEON?!" Sora yelled, certain that the heavy footfalls belonged to his older brother. He attempted to look through the door's crack but could see nothing but a flash of platinum hair.

Oh. Not Leon.

"… no.. not Leon…" the stranger said with a little hesitance, as the footsteps paused outside Sora's cubicle. "Are... you okay in there?" He sounded concerned.

"NO!" Sora bit his lip anxiously, "I'm stuck…"

"Stuck?"

He could almost hear the laughter.

"Not like that! I mean, the lock rust shut… and the door won't open… and and..." he choked back a sob.

"It's okay! Calm down… I'll get you out." The stranger assured him, and Sora instantly felt better.

"Stand back beside the toilet or on the seat, and I'll ram it open."

The brunet did as he was told, and as soon as he gave the okay the door shuddered mightily… but didn't budge.

"Hang on..." The voice grunted, out of breath.

The second time his shoulder connected, the door flew open and Sora saw the same flash of platinum, before the stranger fell straight onto him and knocked them both to the floor. The brunet's eyes widened at the guy on top of him. Up this close, the silver hair was beautiful. It shined and dazzled his eyes and was soft against his chest.

The stranger got his hands on either side of Sora and pushed himself up and back onto his knees, flushed.

"I'm sorry," The guy mumbled, standing and offering a hand down to him.

Sora took it and stood up, finding him taller than he'd first imagined. He smiled up into the guy's face and saw he couldn't have been any more than two years older than himself… and he had the most dazzling blue eyes that Sora had ever seen.

"Are you... gonna be alright now?" The stranger asked hesitantly. Sora smiled and nodded, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, thanks so much… my name's Sora, by the way." He offered.

"I'm Riku." The str- Riku - replied.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence that followed, in which Sora looked everywhere but at his saviour.

"Well... I guess I'll get back to my friends." He said lightly, shooting a smile at Riku and slipping past him out of the cubicle. "Thanks again!"

And with that, Sora left the bathroom, never seeing the blue eyed gaze burning intently into his back.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Riku was still in shock.

When he'd entered the bathroom, he never expected someone to be stuck there… and then, even when he'd rescued the kid, he'd never expected it to be someone **that** cute. The brunet was practically oozing the stuff. The way he talked, the way his lip was sore and red from being bitten, the blush that had covered his face when he'd fallen in…

Everything.

And now what had happened? He'd just let him walk off – walk out of his life with nothing less than a 'thank you'. The thought was appalling.

So, as soon as Riku finished his business, he darted quickly outside… and found the kid still standing around. He was staring at one of the gas tanks, with the most forlorn expression he'd ever seen and his arms wrapped tightly around himself. He couldn't help but walk up to him.

"Hey... again." He said lightly.

Sora's gaze darted anxiously to him, and he let out a hoarse laugh. "Oh, hi Riku."

Riku observed the gas station. The other car that had been there when he pulled in was gone, and the place was empty except for his own and an attendant with a fire blanket eyeing a puddle suspiciously.

"… they're gone, aren't they?" He said softly, glancing at Sora. The brunet nodded, his eyes shimmering.

"You can borrow my phone if you want," he continued gently, taking out his mobile and offering it to Sora. Sora took it with a small whisper of thanks and started punching in numbers. He held it to his ear as Riku waited patiently.

-0-0-0-0-0-

'_I love you, you love me, we're a happy family…'_

The shrill tone was loud and piercing in the air in the car, the tinny voice almost a shout in the ears of the occupants. There was barely any conversation to stifle the sound – Cloud was listening to his IPOD and Leon preferred driving in silence and concentrating wholly on the road. The only so called conversation was Axel as he tried to get into Roxas' pants for the fiftieth time that day, and that ceased abruptly as Roxas heard the tone and promptly burst out laughing.

'_with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you!'_

Axel, who was currently looming over Roxas with a predatory expression, flushed with embarrassment. He didn't know who had set his ring tone to… that… and he really didn't care, more focused on getting through to Roxas than bothering to yell at whichever his friends had infiltrated the device.

'_won't you say you love me too?...'_

The blond gasped for air through his tears. "Aren't…" he breathed, stifling his laughter for a moment longer to choke out, "aren't you going to answer that? And change that stupid ringtone?"

"Nope." He said, admiring the panting blond and leaning even closer. Maybe he'd even thank whoever had done it – now that Roxas as suitably amused, he hadn't yet pushed Axel away. As the phone cut off and fell silent, he closed the distance between them by a little bit more.

"I'd rather keep you breathless."

Roxas really hadn't noticed just how close Axel was until he'd uttered those words (as he was usually pretty close anyway). At that point he pushed Axel violently away again. He was quickly getting even more agitated, and would have exploded again by this point if not for Leon's presence and his value for his own life.

And so the vicious cycle continued.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Sora lowered the phone and stared at it, as though wishing Axel's voice to emanate from it at any second. He didn't know Leon's number; he didn't call his brother that often. He didn't even know if Cloud **had **a phone, let alone his number, and Roxas' phone was in the boot. His own was on the back seat, but it was switched off…

Sighing, he flipped it shut and handed it back to Riku, wrapping his arms around himself around. He felt like the lowliest person on Earth – just how little did his friends think of him to just forget him like this? Let alone Leon, but then, he was stressed enough to forget…

"I'm sorry." Riku said softly, his voice cutting into Sora's thoughts… but it was far from unwelcome, "If there's anything I could do? Anywhere I could take you?"

He bit his lip again and stole a sideways glance at the guy he'd only just met. He met the blue eyes and found genuine concern in the other's gaze… but getting into a car with a stranger?

Then again, did he have a choice?

He could've just stayed here and waited – but if they didn't realized until they got there, then he'd be here over two hours… just him and the attendant until it was dark. He didn't even know the greasy old guy with the fire blanket, let alone trust him, but Riku looked around his own age… plus he'd rescued him from the bathroom – so how bad could he be?

The wind tossed Sora's hair over his face and tugged at his clothes as he opened his mouth again.

"I'm… going to the coast." He said, looking slyly sideways. "Have you heard of the Camarghue? It's a resort. It's along the Esplanade at… Mar… something."

Riku blinked and grinned at Sora. "That's where I'm going!"

Sora's eyes widened dramatically. "Are you serious?!"

He nodded.

Sora squealed and threw himself on the elder. "I'm so glad I met you Riku! You can hang out with us and everything! We're planning on just getting pizza tonight but I think tomorrow we might have a barbecue and I'm sure Leon won't mind if you come along, considering you saved me and all…"

Riku looked down at the top of the brunette head with nothing short of amazement. The transformation from the hurt, abandoned, quiet Sora to this… energetic, excitable, happy teenager had taking him aback. He had no idea anyone's mood could change so quickly, like someone had flicked a switch.

Nevertheless, it was a nice change, and he felt a smile tugging at his lips.

"No worries." Riku said as Sora pulled away.

"Thank you again Riku! I really owe you for this!" The brunet said, and without knowing quite what he was doing, he planted a quick peck on Riku's cheek and bounced off towards the only car in the station.

Riku was shocked, but not in a bad way and quickly followed Sora to his car.

This… was going to be an extremely interesting vacation.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

yes, there is a reason for Sora being the way he is - and yes, even why he listened to the Wiggles - but you'll have to wait until you find out. XD

110 kilometres per hour. The speed limit on Aussie highways is 100, so Leon's just a TEENY bit over…


	2. The First Day, part 2

_Disclaimer: Not my characters. My plot, my world, not my characters. XD_

**Title:** All I Want for Christmas  
**Chapter:** The First Day, Part 2  
**Pairings:** Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Riku/Sora…  
**Summary:** A week at a resort sounded like fun, but this will be a Christmas Leon, Cloud, Sora, Roxas, Riku and Axel will never forget… set in Australia. AU, yaoi.  
**Rating:** Going up because of swearing, some violence and allusions to some... other stuff... .;;;

Thanks everyone who reviewed!! X3 To clear up a bit of confusion, Roxas is Cloud's brother, Leon is Sora's brother, Axel is Riku's cousin. Sora and Roxas are best friends. Leon and Cloud are boyfriends and… Sora is the one that dragged Axel along with them and therefore Axel dragged Riku along.

I think that's everything. Now, onwards to chapter 2!! xD

This fic was originally intend to have seven chapters but… it's going to be a heck of a lot longer to fit everything in that we planned to. X.x

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**All I Want for Christmas**

_Chapter Two: The First Day, Part 2_

The car finally pulled up outside the reception of the resort and Leon, Cloud and Roxas couldn't be happier. Axel, no longer forced into close proximity with Roxas, was vaguely disappointed at the outcome. He'd thought he'd actually get somewhere this time… oh well.

Roxas stepped out of the car and stretched his arms above his head, the temperature hitting him like a punch in the face. He sighed lightly, having expected it; the luxurious air conditioning had only been a brief respite from the full force of an Australian summer.

"It's hot." Axel whined unhelpfully.

Roxas rolled his eyes. Sure it was hot, but at least Axel could appreciate where they were. On one side of the one way street they stood on was a line of trees, a sandy path leading through them and up a small rise before descending to where Roxas knew the beach was. More resorts were scattered alongside them and almost all the way up to the end of one street. The other end had shops and a surf club, the road curving through a boulevard of different boutiques before ending at the edge of a large, rocky spit.

Leon, didn't seem to appreciate the heat either and immediately shed his leather jacket. That was the one thing that confused Roxas about his brother's boyfriend. No matter how hot it got, he was never seen without some form of leather pants and his jacket. It would just be weird to see him in togs – but that again, Leon being Leon, he could almost imagine him in leather boardshorts.

Which was just wrong.

"We'll go to reception." Cloud finally said, stifling a yawn. "You guys start unloading stuff."

Roxas nodded his compliance and opened the car door again as Leon and Cloud made their way towards big glass doors to the far left and on the lowest level of the compound. He'd started unpacking the towels that had been with them in the backseat, but one had fallen to the floor. The blond bent down to get it and knew, as soon as he did, that it wasn't a good idea.

"Axel." He said slowly, not moving, still halfway through reaching for the towel. "Why is there a hand on my ass."

No reply.

"… Axel." He said again.

"Sorry Roxas, couldn't resist." The red head chuckled, but let his fingers linger a second more before he took his hand away. Roxas himself scowled angrily and turned around, chucking the towels at the asshole standing on the sidewalk.

"You can finish unpacking by yourself." He proclaimed, stalking away from the car.

Axel winced and rubbed the back of his neck. "Aww c'mon Roxy... it's just fun. You're such an easy target."

"EASY TARGET?!" Roxas exploded, spinning around and scowling murderously.

The red head smirked. "Got a problem with that?"

-0-0-0-0-

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose as he held the door open for Cloud, trying in vain to pretend he hadn't heard Roxas' frustrated yell. He knew they didn't like each other, but Axel had offered to pay for most of the nights they stayed. He really hadn't been intending to pass up an offer like that – especially considering Leon and Cloud had initially only had enough money for two nights.

But a week… a week, together, for Christmas… no – for Cloud to distress and enjoy himself... was worth it.

Cloud walked in before him and the brunet followed shortly after, the air conditioning of the room hitting him just as the heat had when he'd gotten out of the car.

It was putrid, but it was better than nothing.

"There's no one here." Captain Obvious, better known as Cloud, said lightly.

They walked up to the pristine counter at the end of the room. It was covered in green and blue tiles that suited the green carpet and blue walls – but looked like an upright kitchen floor. He turned away from it, eyed the plastic fish on the wall, and hoped to any deity listening that the room was better decorated than this. Not to mention there was no bell to ring, so they just had to wait.

Cloud made his way over to the door at the side of the room and knocked.

"I'M COMING!" Somebody called from inside.

Leon froze. He knew that voice.

No.

No... not here… anywhere but here….

"Leon?" Cloud said curiously, peering at him from underneath his jagged bangs. He could tell something was wrong.

Leon forced himself to clear his throat and shook his head lightly – the universal signal for 'no, I'm fine, and even if I'm not, I don't want you to know…'

Cloud was never convinced.

Unfortunately, before Leon could explain himself and before Cloud could ask him, the door opened and the owner of the blonde hair exited the room. The reason why Leon had always been a sucker for blond hair, the reason why Leon looked and acted the way he did now. The reason… no, he wouldn't admit that to himself, not yet.

"Well if it isn't the chicken wuss himself."

Seifer hadn't changed a bit.

Leon felt his fists clench and forced himself to meet the arrogant gaze of his long time rival and ex lover. Seifer looked the same, dressed the same, even had the same smirk on his face that he had when he was seventeen. Nothing had changed, nothing ever would.

Cloud, noticing the tension growing between them, cleared his throat, "We just need to check in."

Seifer seemed to tear himself away from the battle of wills and scanned Cloud from head to toe. Leon felt his anger rising with his pulsating beat of his heart. He was examining Cloud like he was a piece of meat – which, to Seifer, he probably was… but no, he wouldn't let the blond hurt Cloud like he'd hurt Leon.

"He said, we need to check in." He said icily, gritting his teeth.

Seifer finished his examination, threw a quick glance at Leon, then tossed his head and made his way to the desk.

"Sure thing Squall." He said, putting extra emphasis on the last word, "I'll get right on it… or right on him, as the case may be."

"Stay the **hell** away from Cloud you sick son of a bitch." Leon spat out, venom lacing his voice. He was so angry that he didn't even bother to correct the usage of his old name, and instead stalked over to his boyfriend and wound an arm protectively around him.

Cloud could only watch the exchange warily, leaning a little into Leon as he sensed the need to reassure the brunet. He didn't really know who this Seifer guy was, but he did know Leon felt incredibly threatened by him. So, in support of his boyfriend, Cloud glared daggers over the counter.

"All we want is to fucking check in, so either give us the goddamn room key or get someone else." Cloud demanded harshly.

Seifer laughed dryly and Leon tensed to the point where Cloud was absolutely sure he'd vault over the desk. He loosened his grip a bit and rested his palm on Leon's back, rubbing soothing circles.

"Ouch." Seifer said, leering, "better watch out Squally, your bitch can bite."

Leon jerked himself out of Cloud's embrace and grabbed the front of Seifer's shirt over the counter, dragging him painfully over the desk.

"Role reversal, huh?" Seifer said, clearly not bothered by the grip, nor of the proximity of Leon's face. His gaze bored into Leons', electricity sizzling and cackling the air between them. His voice had dropped several octaves when he spoke again. "I don't know Squall, I don't think I'd like being you. Whiney, screaming, _helpless-_"

"Could someone please tell me what's going on in here?!"

A new, female voice cut the tension like nothing else. Cloud breathed a sigh of relief as Leon slowly released Seifer's shirt and he was dropped back behind the counter. They both looked around to the newcomer and found a buxom brunette staring the both of them down. Her eyes were like fire as she stalked into the room and glared at Seifer.

He didn't even look at her.

In fact, neither Leon nor Seifer seemed up to speaking, so involved were they in the other. With a sigh, Cloud decided to intervene.

"Seifer just gave us the wrong room key, and Leon got a bit wound up because we've been in a car for the last three hours, isn't that right Leon?"

Leon tore his gaze away from Seifer and stared at Cloud for a moment, then slowly nodded. He visibly let the tension release from his back and shoulders and mumbled his apologies.

The newcomer sighed and brought a leather covered hand to her face. "I could get you arrested for this."

Cloud shot a glance at Seifer and jumped as he realized he was being examined again, only this time with such a predatory expression on the other's face that he couldn't help but shudder.

"I suppose I can blame it on the car trip though. It's a lot of undue stress, especially if you have kids with you."

Cloud nodded, eager to continue this conversation and ease the last lingering tension, "Yeah, Leon's little brother loves the Wiggles. He kept singing along to every… single… song…."

He went as white as a sheet.

Leon finally gave Cloud his complete attention since the first time they'd gotten in the car. The blond looked so frightened, that Leon couldn't help but reach for his hand and hold it gently as he asked, "Cloud, what's wr-…"

And then he realized.

Oh shit.

Any witnesses to the event would swear that all they saw was a brown blur speeding towards the car. They didn't even see the door opening, only the handle banging into the wall and the shockwave it sent through the glass. In seconds, Axel and Roxas had been pushed out of the way and the car was reversing wildly out of its park.

"SEIFER, DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TOUCH CLOUD!" A voice shouted from the open window – and then, just like that, the car sped off back in the direction it had come.

Cloud watched all of this with a surprisingly calm expression on his face, turning back around as the last sounds vanished into the distance. Seifer had stopped eying him and was hesitant to get into trouble now that Leon was gone, but that didn't stop him wearing a smug expression that annoyed Cloud to no end.

The girl blinked. "Well that was… interesting."

Seifer snorted. "Trust Squall to forget something like that."

"Get back to work Seifer, I'm not paying you to get into fights." She snapped, eying him distastefully. She then turned back to Cloud, who was watching them both with a wary expression.

"I'm Tifa, by the way." She said lightly, smiling and offering her hand. Cloud took it and shook it, forcefully ignoring the way her boobs bounced with every small moment.

"Cloud." He replied.

"I gathered." Tifa said, the smile wavering slightly. "So what unit have you got booked Cloud?"

Cloud thought for a moment, but couldn't recall.

"I dunno, it should be recorded though, because I think Leon booked it in both our names. Is it okay if he's not here?"

Tifa nodded and threw a look at Seifer, who scowled and reluctantly picked up a book. Sure enough there was a record of their booking under both 'Cloud Strife' and something illegible. There was enough ink spilled on the page to distort the name entirely, most likely from a broken pen…

The girl looked over Seifer's shoulder and threw Cloud a smile. "Right! Unit 2, ground floor. All we need to see is your driver's license for proof of identification…"

Cloud quickly fished it out and showed her.

"… and that's all." She smiled and reached over the desk, plucking the keys from the board they hung on and handing them to Cloud. "Welcome to the Camarghue and please enjoy your stay!"

The phone rang.

"Uh, excuse me," Tifa said quickly, turning and rushing into the other room, shutting the door behind her.

Cloud pocketed the key and was about to leave when a clearing of a throat stopped him in his tracks. Seifer… he'd forgotten all about the other guy. Slowly, he schooled his expression and turned slowly around. Seifer had come out from behind the desk and was looking surprisingly regretful.

"I'm sorry I was so harsh before. The surprise of seeing Squall here was a lot for me to handle, so… I think we got off on the wrong foot."

Cloud instantly relaxed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, you and him seem to have a lot of history…"

Seifer nodded and smiled at Cloud, extending his hand.

"I'll do my best to put it behind me. I'm sorry. I want to start over. My name is Seifer."

"Cloud." Cloud replied, clasping the hand and giving it a quick shake. He didn't quite trust Seifer yet but… he seemed nice enough – and maybe it'd be easier to get along with him if he wasn't trying to bite the guy's head off every few seconds.

He dropped his hand.

"Well, I'd better get back to work." Seifer said, with a slight roll of his eyes. "Tifa is a slave driver. Not that I ever work anyway, but the least I could do is pretend to, right?"

Cloud nodded and backed up, opening the door and managing a small smile at Seifer. "I guess I'll… see you around then?"

Seifer nodded and waved. "Sure will! See you soon Cloud!"

Cloud shut the door behind him and left, thinking about Seifer and how he wasn't such a bad guy after all. He never noticed the incredibly smug smirk that crossed Seifer's face as the blond left the reception and the penetrating graze that followed him all the way back to the street.

-0-0-0-0-

Riku hated the radio.

He hated it with a burning passion, every single little button on its stupid grimy face. He hated that the time was never right on it and would often skip backwards or forwards as it pleased… he hated the scratched and dirty screen that you could barely see the numbers through… he hated the volume control that he could barely turn and the tuning control that wouldn't turn at all.

But most of all he hated, HATED, the fact that it was only able to pick up one radio station.

And even more, that that radio station just happened to be Sora's favourite.

".. had a very shiny nose!" Sora sung happily, pointing at Riku, his grin widening as the elder of the two answered in perfect timing, "like a lightbulb…"

Well, his rhythm and enthusiasm wasn't quite there yet, but it was coming along nicely...

Riku made sure his efforts to bang his head on the steering wheel went largely unnoticed, but even though he had managed to give himself a nice beating, he still couldn't properly with Sora watching. He'd have to wait until he actually got to the resort for that luxury.

The thing was that he didn't actually mind spending this time with Sora. Once they'd initially gotten over that 'complete strangers' thing they had going on, Riku had discovered what everybody else who'd ever met the younger brunet had always been aware of. Sora was a very, very, VERY difficult person to dislike.

Even now, he could appreciate the simple happiness singing along brought, and wondered if living life with Sora was always like this.

He just wished Sora could sing in tune.

".. they jumped up and shouted with glee."

"Yippee."

"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer."

"Reindeer…"

"You'll go down in history!"

"Like… what the hell…"

"Riiiku, you ruined it! It's supposed to be like Napoleon!" Sora pouted, but nevertheless glanced out the window in the direction Riku was and saw a black flash of light speeding down the highway.

"That's the same car that almost side swiped me today!" Riku realized with a jolt, his eyes quickly narrowing. "Bastard. Wonder what he turned around for?..."

"That's my brother's car!" Sora proclaimed happily. "I bet he's gone back to get me!"

Riku barely heard the whispered, "took him long enough," that finished the sentence, and instantly felt a pang of sympathy for Sora. He knew he'd kill any one of his three siblings for doing something like that to him – but it seemed like an even greater crime for them to do it to Sora.

He half wanted to keep driving, or to question Sora's conviction, to ask 'how could you possibly know it was your brother, when the car was on the other side of the road and going **that** fast?' But he quelled these thoughts with a scowl and pulled out his phone again.

"Try your friend's number again, maybe they'll actually answer this time." He said, expression morphing into a smile.

Sora nodded and took the phone, turning off the radio at the same time, which made Riku breathe a sigh of relief. If that 'All I Want for Christmas' song came on one more time – he was going to have to hurt someone.

"It's ringing," Sora proclaimed happily, and waited.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Axel was confused.

He'd been halfway through telling Roxas how beautiful he was when Leon had sprinted out of the building and knocked him aside, before jumping in the car and speeding off. Then Roxas had stomped off somewhere and Axel had sat on the grass with the stuff, to be joined later by Cloud. Then after telling him about Sora's… unfortunate circumstances (Sora had been missing?!) both of them together had started moving everything into their unit and still neither Roxas nor Leon were back yet.

Not to mention he hadn't heard anything from his counsin…

'_I love you, you love me…'_

Axel blushed immediately, even though he was alone, and grabbed the phone from his pocket.

"Talk to me baby." He said.

"Axel!" Came an excited voice that was definitely beyond any level of happiness he could ever achieve... without Roxas' help, anyway.

There was a moment's silence, in which the red head attempted to recognize the tone, and then…

"Hey Soooora! What's doin' kid? Real sorry about leaving you at the gas station, needed to free up the back seat for the wild, kinky monkey sex me and Roxas were having. You understand."

Sora laughed. "Geez Axel, I'm surprised you're still alive. I really thought he'd kill you."

"Kill me?" Axel laughed, lounging back in his chair, "why would _anyone_ want to rid the world of this beautiful body? It'd be a crime!"

"As if," Sora replied in a mocking voice, "but anyway," he continued more seriously, "I just wanted to call to tell everyone that I'm okay and… I'mgettingaliftinwiththisguybecausehe'sgoingtothesameplaceandIfiguredit'dbeokaybecauseheseemsreallyniceand-"

Axel sat bolt upright, eyes widened. "You WHAT?!"

Sora seemed to take a deep breath. "I'm getting a lift with this guy because he's going to the same place... and I figured it'd be okay because... he... seems… really… nice…"

Suddenly Sora's reasoning didn't seem so logical anymore… but Riku had been nice enough! He even sang along! Nobody sang along with Sora..

Axel breathed heavily into the phone. "Well, Leon just went to get you, so you'd better call him."

"I can't." Sora replied weakly, "the only number I know is yours. That's why I called you."

The red head snorted. "Last resort huh?"

Sora winced, "No!! But… Axel… could you please call Leon for me?! I can't, and I don't want to waste any more of this guy's money and… please??"

Oh hell no. Axel wasn't going to break the news to Leon. No way, no how. Tell the world's biggest asshole that the younger brother he was supposed to be taking such good care of was in a car with a stranger?? Nope, no can do.

"… okay."

Axel never figured out exactly why he said yes. He can't remember when he said goodbye to Sora or dialing Leon's number. All he could remember was the ringing before the older brunet picked up, and the voice that answered when he finally did.

"What?" Leon said urgently, his voice tense from weaving down a highway at 130 kilometers an hour.

Axel swallowed heavily. "Uh… Sora just called."

Leon sighed. "And?"

"….. and…." Sigh. "Andhe'sinacarwithsomestrangerwhoisbringinghimhereandit'snotmyfaultpleasedon'thurtme." Axel paused and shrank backwards in his seat, away from the small, electronic device… as though he could randomly contract a horrible, fatal (not to mention excruciatingly painful) disease from the thing… which, knowing Leon, was entirely likely to happen. That man would be the first to figure out a way to kill people over the phone.

Which, judging by his current silence, was his most likely objective.

When Leon spoke again, it was with cold, murderous intent-to-kill that Axel definitely did not want any part in. "I'll be back," he said quietly, and hung up.

Those three words were the scariest he'd ever heard.

-0-0-0-0-

A good fifteen minutes later and Riku had finally found the resort. "We're here!" He announced wearily, finding a convenient park on the street right in front of the building. Sora immediately jumped out of the car, while Riku took his time and gathered a couple of his smaller bags before heading to check in. The blond behind the counter was unhelpful, obviously sulking about some misdeed or another, but seemed to perk up when Sora asked about Leon.

"Leon, huh?"

The receptionist swept his appearance with a bored gaze.

"Who are you? He's already got a fuck toy."

Riku scowled and Sora's expression darkened instantly. "I'm his brother," he replied, seething with anger.

The guy smirked. "I see the resemblance."

He handed over Riku's key and told Sora his unit number with no further hassles, but it didn't stop either of them glaring at the guy until they'd walked all the way out of reception and found the door of Unit 2. It was a glass door with a key to get in, leading to a stairwell in the middle of the floor and a door at either side. Unit 1 was on the other side of the stairwell, which happened to be the one Riku was staying in.

Sora shot him a smile. "I guess this means we're destined to hang out this holidays, right Riku?" The brunet said with a laugh.

Riku nodded and grinned. "I'd love to hang out with you Sora, but you'd better go talk to your friends first."

The younger of the two nodded and rolled his eyes ever so slightly. "I'm going to get hell from Leon for this…" he muttered, while knocking on the door. Riku gave him a sympathetic wince and opened his own door, dumping his stuff and leaving with a small wave to go get the rest.

Meanwhile, the door was opened by a frowning Cloud, whose expression crumpled into relief as he saw Sora.

"I'm glad you're okay Sora." He said lightly, opening the door further so the other could enter. As soon as Sora walked in, Axel jumped up from the couch and ruffled his hand through Sora's hair.

"What's this about getting a lift with a stranger, huh kid?" Axel joked, trying and failing to conceal his own relief that Sora had made it back alright.

Sora himself beamed at him. "Well there was this guy who helped me when I got stuck in the toilets-"

"You got stuck in the toilet?!" Axel interrupted with a snort.

"No!!" Sora replied haughtily. "I was in the _cubicle_ and the lock got stuck. I didn't get stuck _in the toilet…_"

"So what you're saying is you were in there, not in the toilet, and this brave knight in shining armour came and saved you. Is that right?"

The brunet blushed. "I wouldn't call him _that_. He is **really** nice thought, and guess what?? He's staying next door, his name's Riku and he-"

"What?!" Axel interrupted again. "His name's… what?"

"Riku." Sora repeated.

Axel grinned. "Riku, huh? Well, I guess I'll have to thank him next time I see him for bringing you here all right. Although I'll have to ask him about how often he gives free rides to cute strangers..."

"You know Riku?" Sora's jaw dropped and Axel nodded.

"He's my cousin."

Sora grinned. "That's insane!" He said, excited at the prospect.

He didn't get to be too excited however, as another voice cut him off.

"You're the one who's insane Sora."

Sora looked up at the doorway where his brother stood imposingly, single handedly cutting off his escape. There was a front courtyard he could run into, but there was a wall to scale and Leon would catch him before then… or there was the back, which led to the pool, but there was a wall there too… maybe he'd just suffer an early death…

"How could you get in a car with a stranger?" Leon said, stepping further into the room and shutting the door behind him. "I'm sorry that we left you behind – I feel, and I'm sure everyone feels – incredibly guilty… but…" the elder sighed and fixed Sora with an icy gaze that burrowed beneath his skin. He was normally immune to Leon's 'looks', but this one was different.

He wasn't angry – it was that deep disappointment that kept the frown locked so tightly onto his face and his tone frigid.

Sora winced.

"You could have been abducted. You could have been raped. You could have been _killed_ Sora." Leon managed, gritting his teeth. "Then what would I have done? What could I have done? Anything that happened to you would've been my entire fault. First and foremost for leaving you there, and second and most importantly for not teaching you the importance of your actions in situations like that."

The older brother pinched the bridge of his nose to rid himself of the quickly forming migraine.

"I'm sorry Leon…" Sora whispered, mortified at the ramifications of his simple actions. There he'd gone again – trusting everyone explicitly. He'd been lectured for this before, but had never quite learned his lesson. Sora would just not be Sora if he did.

Leon dropped his hand, a dismissive action. "Whatever." He said quietly, and walked into the room where Cloud had disappeared, which Sora assumed was the master bedroom. He turned to Axel, who was contemplating him with a grin.

"Don't worry about it kid." He said, clapping Sora on the shoulder. "He'll cool off."

Sora nibbled his bottom lip and wished he could believe Axel. He really, really did.

-0-0-0-0-

Ten minutes later, Roxas had returned from sulking and everyone had settled on the couch to watch a movie. Leon and Cloud were on the loveseat, Leon with his arm around Cloud's shoulders and Cloud with his head on Leon's shoulder. Roxas, disgusted with the display (actually, just hoping Axel didn't get any ideas…) had settled on the longer couch beside them with Sora and had evicted Axel to the lone armchair.

The movie, Deep Blue Ocean, was about shark attacks, and would have been exceedingly scary – if not for the comments Axel made every five seconds.

"Why the hell would it keep on ramming the door anyway, when there's someone swimming in the same room? Does it KNOW there's like… three guys on the other side of the door??They're not even in the water!"

Roxas scowled and rolled his eyes. "It's a _movie_ Axel, it doesn't have to _make sense._"

"YES IT DOES!" Axel contested hotly, and Roxas opened his mouth to respond.

"Don't even think about it."

Both pairs of eyes turned to Cloud, who was snuggled into Leon. It seemed the long drive had taken it's toll on the older brunet and Leon had fallen fast asleep – half sitting up, half lying down and both arms now wrapped firmly around his boyfriend – on the couch. Roxas rolled his eyes and turned back to the movie as Sora emitted a particularly loud squeak and took refuge underneath the pillows.

A man, who had just been making an empowering speech to the rest of his crew, had just been eaten by a shark leaping out of the water.

Roxas scoffed.

"See, I told you so!" Axel proclaimed victoriously.

Seconds later, his phone started ringing and he raised it to his ear.

"Talk to me baby."

A few seconds of silence.

"RIKU!" Axel exclaimed happily. Sora looked up at his words. Riku!

"Yeah sure you can come over! We're just watching a movie… … yeah… no, me, Roxy baby, his brother Cloud, Cloud's boyfriend Leon and Leon's little brother."

Another pause.

"Yeah, course, see ya soon!"

Axel hung up the phone to find Cloud and Roxas glaring at him and Sora regarding him with interest.

"Your cousin, huh?" Cloud asked lightly. Axel nodded and Sora blinked.

There was a knock at the door, and Cloud sighed.

"Leon'll never get any sleep if there's any more of you. I think I'll take him to bed."

Axel inwardly cheered as Sora went up to get the door.

Cloud stretched and gently disentangled himself from Leon's arms. He stood up and bent beside the brunet, whispering something into his ear which resulted in Leon bolting off the couch, grabbing Cloud and almost dragging him into the bedroom. The door slammed behind them and Roxas and Axel hoped that the walls were soundproof enough that they didn't get too traumatized.

When they didn't hear anything more, they breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

-0-0-0-0-

Sora opened the door hesitantly and grinned widely when he saw that it **was,** in fact, Riku.

"RIKU!" He greeted, giving him a tight hug and then standing back. The elder regarded him with sceptisim painted all over his face.

"Sora, I didn't know you were friends with Axel?"

"I'm the one that invited Axel along! My brother is the one that rented the apartment." Sora informed Riku, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the room, "Come meet Roxas."

Axel waved to Riku, "What's doing Riku? Come sit."

Sora plonked himself down in the loveseat that had been previously vacated and Riku joined him. Greetings and introductions were made and Sora laughed over the one in a million chance that Riku had stopped at the gas station.

"Your… brother. Where's he?" Riku asked later, taking an almost nervous look around. Sora shrugged.

"He and Cloud went to bed, I think." He didn't elaborate.

Riku nodded, "He seems a bit psychotic. Is… everyone in your family like that?"

Sora laughed, "He's just over protective… of everyone. I don't know, he just seems to think that he's responsible for everything that goes on. I mean, in a way he kind of is, but not to the point that he seems to think he is."

Riku looked vaguely confused, so Sora decided to elaborate.

"Our parents died when we were really little. We were put into foster care, but our parents never really seemed to care about us and Leon looked after us both. He was Squall back then, and he was a lot different to how he is now."

Sora took a short breath, never noticing that Roxas, and even Axel, were listening intently, their focus diverted from the movie. It wasn't often that Sora was serious and much less often that he spoke of his past – that he was doing so with Riku was something… unheard of. Roxas in particularly couldn't understand why his best friend was putting so much trust in a guy he'd just met.

"Then, when he was in his last year of high school, something changed, and he never said what. He never used to be really strong or anything, but he started going to the gym a lot and going on runs that'd take hours…. When he left he changed his name to Leon and we moved out of foster care and into an apartment with Aerith."

Sora paused for a second time.

"He became really overprotective then… really over protective. He barely let me leave the house except for school and if I even just got bullied then he'd take it personally. He was… different. Then… well… one thing led to another. Aerith introduced him to Cloud, they started going out and we moved in with Cloud and Roxas. Cloud… makes him better."

Sora shook his head and forced his face into a smile. "So here we are!"

Roxas and Axel, stunned that he'd just departed with all that information, gave up the façade of not listening. Riku was surprised at the amount of trust the brunet seemed to have bestowed on him and shifted, as though the weight of that trust was on his shoulders, and returned the small smile.

"Well that explains a lot." He finally said, rubbing the back of his neck in a particularly Cloud gesture.

Sora laughed.

"Of course it does silly! That was the point!"

And without further adue, he turned his attention back to the TV. The movie had been replaced by cartoons and was now on his favourite show – Starbob Fishpants.

Riku lent back on the couch and wondered just sort of person Sora was and what he'd been through to be able to do something like that – then abruptly banished the thought from his mind. If Sora could do it so easily and without batting an eyelid, maybe it hadn't been that big a deal. Maybe Sora had to explain his brother to everyone.

Axel and Roxas knew better.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-


End file.
